Bernard Brogan ‘looking sharp’ and ready for recall
The 32-year-old former footballer of the year hasn’t featured this year for the back-to-back All-Ireland champions following his late December wedding and honeymoon to South Africa.
The return of the four-time All-Star, making him the 50th player to line out for Dublin in 2017, would boost their chances of extending their unbeaten run to 34 games.
That would tie the record set by Kerry in the early 1930s. To add to the intrigue, it was the Kingdom who last beat Dublin almost exactly two years ago.
“Bernard has been playing with us for the last couple of weeks,” said former Dublin defender Paul Curran, who is managing Brogan at club level with St Oliver Plunketts Eoghan Ruadh.
He has had game time with us and looks fresh and fit. I expect to see him back with Dublin very shortly and wouldn’t be surprised if we see some of him on Saturday against Kerry.
He’s not long back, in fairness to him, but he keeps himself well and he’s looking sharp.”
Diarmuid Connolly and Cian O’Sullivan haven’t played for Dublin so far, either, though boss Jim Gavin hinted after the win over Mayo that both could feature in Kerry.
It remains to be seen, though, if James McCarthy, Jack McCaffrey, and Paul Mannion will be involved. McCarthy hasn’t played since suffering what Gavin described as ‘a kick in the back of the calf’ against Tyrone at Croke Park.
McCaffrey and Mannion picked up knocks while playing for UCD at the Sigerson Cup finals weekend. Conor McHugh took his opportunity against Mayo last time out, scoring 1-3 on just his third league start, and is sure to start again.
“In any other county Conor McHugh would have three years of experience as a senior county player by now,” said Curran.
“He was the U21 footballer of the year in 2014, but he’s only now getting consistent game time. How do you explain keeping a fella like that on the sidelines for a year or two? How do you keep him interested and focused and ready to take his chance when it comes?
“That takes an awful lot of skilful managing and Conor McHugh isn’t the only one. Cormac Costello was in a similar situation and popped up to win them the All-Ireland. It’s an unreal situation for Dublin to be in, with that amount of talent in reserve.”
Kerry haven’t beaten Dublin in a Championship game since 2009, a run that includes All-Ireland final (2011 and 2015) and semi-final (2013 and 2016) defeats, as well as last year’s league final loss.
“I think a win for Kerry this weekend would be huge,” said Curran.
“For Dublin, I think they would see it as just another win. That sounds strange, but that’s their mentality.”
Meanwhile, Curran said former Kerry star Paul Galvin is already having a big influence at St Oliver Plunketts Eoghan Ruadh after joining for 2017. “He’s really, really positive,” said Curran.
“He has an awful lot to bring to us. He’s been out of football for a while, but you can see with every game and session he’s getting there. He’s a top-quality operator, a huge addition to us.”
